How to Encourage a Donor to Give Again — and Again

It was that Sunday again — the day when all the 1099s and W-2s were in hand and it was time to sort through the tax stuff. I started, as always, with charitable giving.

On a pad, I wrote down the name of each organization that got a check from our family in 2007. Opposite each name, I wrote the size of the check. Then I added up the dollars.

When I reread the charitable-giving list, I noticed that several organizations had attracted more than one gift during 2007 from me or my family. That’s true almost every year in our house. I suspect that we are not alone, either in our high-mindedness, our impulsiveness, our sentimentality, our passionate commitments, or our guilt.

In 2007, the Levey family gave again because of:

• Belief in education. I made my annual $100 gift to my alma mater. Then I read in the alumni magazine that an anonymous alumnus had decided to give the college $150-million, all for scholarships. So why would a second gift of $100 from me make any difference, especially under the circumstances? Because I wanted to tell my college that even its less-flush graduates care about educational quality and making sure that poor people have access to it. I gave again because I care.

• Belief in a hot cause. A once-abandoned railroad line runs near our home. It has been reclaimed, paved, and turned into an 11-mile recreational trail. The trail is one of the most sensible, healthful reuses of land I’ve ever seen. Not only is it cool to walk in dense woods where coal trains once sputtered, but it’s great to see a citizen board care for the trail and lobby to keep it safe from sillier uses. But politicians want to build a light-rail system alongside the trail. I made a second gift to the citizens’ group to bolster its campaign against an action that would probably kill the trail’s recreational availability. I gave again because it was timely.

• Belief in our family’s past. Both of our children are heavily involved in performing arts. Both got their start in musical theater at the local community college. Each year, our family gives modestly to support the summer dinner-theater program at the college. But because each of our kids enjoyed major success in show biz during 2007, we made a second gift of $375 to go with our “usual” donation of $100. The money will support one needy theater student for an entire summer. It was our way of urging the God of Luck to visit some other young performer. I gave again because it was a way to say thanks.

• Belief in an important issue. The District of Columbia has been the capital of the United States since 1800. But its residents have never had full voting rights. The reasons are still being debated after 208 years. But there’s no argument in our house. If the capital of the Land of the Free isn’t fully free, then none of us are. Each year, I give to support one of many organizations that work toward full D.C. voting rights. This year, I wrote a second check because voting rights nearly passed both houses of Congress during 2007. I don’t want anyone to be able to say that our support is only occasional, or only skin-deep. I gave again because the timing was strategic.

• Belief in atoning for my own stupidity. My wife and I were invited by friends to a fund-raising dinner and auction. I thought she had RSVP’d. She thought I had. In fact, neither of us had. We discovered this as we were pulling out of our driveway, in formal dress, en route to the event. I insisted that we could go anyway. My wife said I must have been raised by Martians — we’re not going. She won, as usual. But so did the charity. Still in my tux, I sat down and wrote a check for double the modest sum that we would have spent at the auction. I gave again because I was careless and guilty about it.

Please note that none of these amounts will change the course of rivers, or elevate our status as prospective donors. We are still relatively small contributors in the world of philanthropy.

But the human factors that made us repeat our gifts during 2007 are the same elements that inspire plenty of other donors, regardless of income level.

Our second gifts were all emotional. They were all the result of our hope for a particular result or at least an attempt to even the score.

They were all based on getting and staying informed. If politicians weren’t making a move on the recreational trail, I would never have given to the citizen board a second time. But the board let me know about the threat in a special newsletter. That made a second gift easy. Any nonprofit organization that doesn’t keep its donors up to date is betting against itself.

All our repeat gifts were based on firsthand experience with particular causes. I didn’t give twice (or once) to programs that I knew nothing about. I gave — and gave again — to programs whose value I had seen myself.

And all our repeat gifts were based on age. Neither I nor my wife is 25 any more. We gave to higher education and D.C. voting rights because we want to see the proper results, not just now but a long time from now. Our second gifts were motivated by the desire to leave a legacy.

It’s entirely possible that I will not give twice to any of these causes during 2008. But I will probably give twice to several causes, either those or others.

No nonprofit group is static. Its status and agenda change during the year — sometimes very sharply. I’ll be listening and reading, and if a few of my dollars can make a difference as a second gift, the checkbook is right beside me. It’s ready. So am I.

Bob Levey teaches journalism at the University of Memphis. He spent 36 years as a columnist and reporter at The Washington Post. He has also been a senior development executive and a longtime volunteer fund raiser for colleges, arts groups, and health-care institutions.